Setting Up a Cleaning Business
In today’s episode Mike chats with Theresa Gaskins of Gaskin’s Cleaning Services www.gaskinscleaningservices.com about transitioning from servicing her own accounts to hiring staff to do it for her.

Theresa has been in the business for over 19 years and has employees but is still struggling with the shift from servicing her own accounts to full time entrepreneur. She needs help making that shift for Setting Up a Cleaning Business.

If you have to be there to make it work you just have a fancy work, in other words you’re self employed. Being a business owner means the the business works without you and you have the time to focus on working on and growing your business.

Let’s first dispel the fear that transitioning employees into accounts you service personally is going to upset your existing customers and hurt your bottom line.

BONUS TIP: You have to be ok with your income changing for a time while you transition.

To get to the root of the problem you have to start at the beginning. Many people get into their business by happenstance and never really figure out why they are in the business and what their ultimate goal is and what your business is about.

The foundation has to be “this business is here to serve you”… the customers serve the business and the business serves you.

When you serve the business you have a foundational problem. This is when you find yourself working crazy hours, dealing with crazy customers and putting up with bad employees. Worst of all, you have no time left over to work ON your business and the profits you could be having never get realized.

BONUS TIP: If and when your customers and employees become a problem they have to go.

Before Setting Up a Cleaning Business you have to ask yourself, how do you want this business to serve you?

It’s hard to step out of your safe zone and take that risk financially and emotionally to make that transition to Setting Up a Cleaning Business. But without risk there are no rewards.

The purpose of your business is to give you freedom not to make your customers and employees happy. Happy customers and employees are a byproduct of a business that is run the right way and serves you!

It’s just headtrash that your customers will be upset if you have employees clean their house. If they are, then you have to be ok with that. The goal isn’t to clean your customer’s house til you die, it’s to build a business that serves you so that you can grow, earn and eventually retire!

A problem with the cleaning business is the owner’s ability to do the work themselves. Because the perfect employee that never calls in sick, steals, lies or does a bad job is you! But if that employee ever wants to go on vacation, nothing gets done.

You are not in the business of cleaning, you are in the business of attracting customers and managing employees. https://oldsite.growmycleaningcompany.comsetting-up-a-cleaning-business/

You have to put the customers mentally in their place. They serve you. You want a customer that understands you run a business with systems. If they freak out because you can’t personally clean they’re the wrong customer.

Customers want a business that has systems and backups. If someone is sick, their home still gets cleaned. They like that efficiency and planning. So stop with the fear of losing accounts when transitioning to a real business.

Lastly, you want to check your pricing metrics and make sure there’s enough margin for you to replace yourself and still make a profit.

Listen in to past episodes on pricing.

Finally Theresa gives back in the lightning round.

Being in business for yourself, you may at times need to have skin like an alligator. – Don’t take anything personally.

Doing too many cleaning tasks that I would not have done (housekeeping stuff) if I had a clear understanding of what I was supposed to be doing. Upfront contract.

Make sure to make your business fun and a place your employees want to work at.